Mechanics Question

[mikesears]

Any down, any distance. -- 5 man crew. This concerns a ball that becomes dead between the inbounds line and the sidelines near the line to gain.

Several times, I've had a situation where the ball becomes dead in the area between the inbounds line and the sideline and is very close to the line to gain. The wings have have a couple of players laying near their feet (results of blocking) about 6-7 yards from the ball, some space, then the players involved in the tackling. Is the correct mechanic to toss the ball to the wing official, should the wing official go around the players at his feet, or should the umpire do his best to find the correct spot?

I think the wing should crash in as far as he can get (until he meets players) then he should be given the ball. But this looks bad if the ball is tossed anymore than a couple of yards.

Opinions?

[JMN]

If I understand your question, I think the most important issue is the forward progress of the football. Since the wings "own" the marking of forward progress, we expect them to get the spot right first and then -if possible- to pinch in as far as they can without modifying their line. It doesn't matter to me if the U has to throw the ball 5yds out to the wing to place the ball if he has the spot. What's the alternative? Doesn't make sense for the U to try to eyeball it. It won't be very accurate and he has little perspective on progress from his position.

I agree if the play is to get a first down on a short yardage situation that the wings should cheat in if possible, and then hustle to mark the progress.

But please, watch out for the reverse or broken play!!!

[AndrewMcCarthy]

The wing should come in as far as he can but should NOT step around players. U should give him the ball- hand it to him and NEVER toss it.

If the U tosses it he may either throw it wide and force the wing guy to move or he'll nail one of the players getting up off the ground who forced the wing guy to stop in the first place.

Don't have the U eyeball it- have him hustle the ball out to the guy who has the spot and it'll look a lot more professional.

[Mike Simonds]

This is an example where cross field mechanics can come in handy.

Example, ball is down between inbounds and sideline on HL's side. The LJ will mirror forward progress and remain there in case the HL loses his spot. This is handy for those plays where the HL has to get out of the way because the runner went out of bounds, etc. The U will clean up the area around the runner (dead-ball officiate), get the ball and toss it to the HL who puts it down at his feet for the R to check forward progress. The HL and LJ should never ever step around any players. Thats why the U should never take the forward progress spot; the R, U, BJ, FJ, SJ are the primary deadball officials that clean-up around the play. HL puts the ball down and holds his spot, BJ or R will get 2nd ball from ball person and relay it to the U at the inbounds spot.


The HL and LJ should mirror the forward progress of the runner, then when the ball is dead come in at a 90 degree angle in as far as possible (but not past the numbers) without having to go around the players. Usually the HL and LJ will not have to go past the numbers if they have mirrored the spot.

[Ed Hickland]

Rule on my crew is anytime you are near the line-to-gain the ball stays on the ground. What if, you move the ball and the measurement is a fraction of an inch either way, was it the refs fault?

On close situations like that I want two officials spotting the ball. If it is in a side zone the umpire should move to the spot and mirror the wingman on his side.

Either the umpire of the wingman should immediately get to the ball and protect it from being moved.

Never, not ever, take the ball and move it to the wingman.

I had a sub on my crew once that did that, believe you me, he will never do it again with me as a referee.

My watchphrase is selling the call. A coach can really believe you are doing him right if you don't handle the ball. Because if you do and the result is a fraction of an inch, can you truly say that you did not move it toward one of the goals?

[ABoselli]

I agree, you never go around players. I make it a point to call for the ball if there are players between me and the ball and say, emphatically, "I got it (or) I got the spot - give me the ball!" so it's clear to all what's going on.

I'm not going to have him chuck it 10 yards or so to me, but if its clear that I have progress, my toe is the spot and I'll put the ball right there. Where the ball ends up on the ground in the player's possession isn't (in most cases) the dead ball spot, so moving it isn't any great crime.

I also make sure that I don't get so tunnel visioned that I don't see any extracurricular crap that may occur after the dead ball. I want to pinch as much as I can, but on a play that ends in thr side zone, pinching is secondary to getting progress. On a dive, I'll pinch hard.

[Edited by ABoselli on Jan 21st, 2003 at 07:27 PM]

[JMN]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ed Hickland

Never, not ever, take the ball and move it to the wingman.

My watchphrase is selling the call. A coach can really believe you are doing him right if you don't handle the ball. Because if you do and the result is a fraction of an inch, can you truly say that you did not move it toward one of the goals?
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Ed,

I disagree about NOT moving the ball to the wingman. Only the wings are going to have forward progress. I'm sure that you won't disagree with that.

If I understand your logic for not getting the ball to the wings, you are trying to manage the coaches perception that if you move the ball from where it lies, they think that your crew moved it forward or back an inch. (They probably will.)

Where I find this faulty is that the spot where the ball lies matters zero. In fact, I would tell my U to get the ball to the wing, don't put it down unless the wings don't have a spot (unlikely). The true dead ball spot is at the covering wing man's toe! So, if a coach gives me grief about moving the ball, I explain the basics of officiating, that the wing guys are counted on to mark forward progress accurately, not the R, not the U, not the BJ.

Not sure how others do it, but my vote is to keep forward progress on the sidelines and make the wings responsible for the placement on close plays.

[theotherwingman]

I would hustle in and if couldn't get to the forward spot, due to a pile up, have a fellow official , umpire, hand you the ball to put it at your feet